Planted By God to Display His Glory -Isaiah 61:3

Posts tagged ‘joy’

I’m heading out on a new writing adventure. I want to try to take a picture in words…and capture a fleeting memory, moment, or imagination…in 300 words or less.

<click> here’s my first pic:

The acrid smoke burns my nostrils.

I sniff in again. The prickly sensation travels down the back of my throat, and I am satisfied.

I have smelled Fall.

Our rakes lay abandoned in a haphazard array in the bare grass as we gather around the piles of growing flame. Horse chestnuts, shed with the crisp browned leaves, explode from their hidden shells inside the fire…and we cheer.

The joy tingles us to our toes and we forget our aching shoulders. The chorus of mournful tunes that echoed in the cool clear air just moments before have fallen like the leaves, and now fertilize the flames and the fun.

This burning ritual has no gender bias—I am an equal here with my brothers, covered in crumbled leaf dust, infiltrated with smoke, as we tend the fires with imagined military precision.

We don’t know the smoke is making our eyes sting and our lungs choke until there are only ashes of leaves left.

The rakes are forgotten for the leaves of tomorrow to fall upon them. The boys tease each other and run away down the lane.

After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 MSG

And a yummy sandwich! 🙂

Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say. ”More, more.” I have God’s more-than-enough, more joy in one ordinary day than they get in all their shopping sprees. Psalm 4:6-7 (MSG)

Hunger.

It motivates.

That gnawing, I-need-something-to-eat-right-now feeling forces us to seek the nourishment we need to stay healthy. And for 20-something girls with an appetite, that nourishment is often found (with coupons) at the local sub shop…

Wrapped in paper and emblazoned with the title “An Epic Story Sandwich,” it goes like this:

We were standing in line to order in front of the glass case with all the ingredients neatly organized in their metal containers. My friend Kassi and I were joking around and I mentioned how funny it would be if you ordered your sandwich in story form. Kassi dared me to do it. So I turned to the guy behind the counter and asked him if I could order my sandwich in a story.

His stoic, greet-the-customer smile transformed into a playful grin. He set up the bread and then positioned himself to act out the story. Josh the sandwich guy was ready to play along…